


old faithful formality

by jollypuppet



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Birthday, Flowers, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1836895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jollypuppet/pseuds/jollypuppet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers has seen his own grave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	old faithful formality

**Author's Note:**

> [incandecsently](incandecsently.tumblr.com) over at Tumblr requested: birthday, flowers, kissing  
>  I just rolled with Steve and Bucky. c:

Steve Rogers has seen his own grave. It's a really surreal thing, to be able to see your own grave, the little relatively-well maintained plot of grass in a private cemetery where his body supposedly lies underground. It's mostly a formality, so that Wikipedia can have a location listed for where his coffin would have been buried, had he lived his life from the 1940s onward, but there's nothing but solid earth underneath that flat, plain little stone. Maybe he will be buried there, someday, after another alien invasion or a power-hungry Norse maniac or Tony putting too much spice in his homemade salsa again and nearly destroying Steve's lower digestive system. But not now.

Bucky's grave, he's seen that too. That hurts a little bit worse, because any historical research done online about Steve talks about his miraculous cryogenic freezing and recovery, of his exploits in stifling the Chitauri invasion, his work-out regimen and the one or two awkward interviews he's done for FOX News, but Bucky... the world thinks Bucky Barnes is dead. There's an entire memorial to him, he's mentioned in textbooks and historical files, Wikipedia knows nothing about  _his_  less-than-miraculous rise from the dead. The world saw Bucky, and then it saw the Winter Soldier, and it never thought anything about it.

It feels weird, on Bucky's birthday, when Steve's standing there with a bundle of flowers over the dark-grey indent in the grassy cemetery floor. "James Buchanan Barnes," it reads, and Steve tries saying it once or twice, but it feels long and bulky in his mouth, so he chews the inside of his cheek and thinks. Nobody knows this is here. Nobody visits it, no child points it out to his mother and says, "I want to be like him!" Captain America or not, Steve can't help but wish that Bucky was the one being praised and worshiped by the general public, that he was the one with action figures being sold of him, because it's better than what he was actually offered, and Steve would trade places with him any day because that's what Bucky  _deserved_.

But there's no point in mourning over it now. His bouquet is simple, just a little thing of white and yellow flowers, delicate callas and vibrant goldenrods, and he places it gently on the ground, half on the grave and half on the grass, as to not cover up the name but to clearly show who it was meant for, and he mutters, "Happy birthday, Buck," before standing back up again, a slight breeze rustling the tree leaves above him, the city moving around him without notice.

"Hey! There you are, I've been looking for you."

Steve turns around to see Bucky jogging up to him, his hair shorter now but still falling into his eyes a bit, and he blows gently at it to get it out of his face. "You just said you were going for a walk, Stevie, didn't know you were touring the city."

"I had something I wanted to do." Steve says, and he smiles gently, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Bucky stands in front of him with one hand rested on his hip, and his eyes leave Steve for just a fraction of a second to look at the grave sitting quietly behind him, like a patient and respectful observer.

"Uh-huh." Bucky says, then shrugs and waves for Steve to follow him. "Come on, let's go get lunch. Sam told me about this vegan bakery near here. Sounds hip and young, don't you think?"

Steve follows behind him without hesitation. "Just because we're ninety-five doesn't mean we have to  _act_ ninety-five." 

"They've got chocolate-banana muffins, Stevie!" Bucky exclaims. "I mean, come on, I'd give my left arm to try something like that." He laughs at the choked little sound Steve makes, because  _no_ , he isn't used to jokes like that just yet, okay. Bucky stops and turns around suddenly, and he gently rests his hand on Steve's stomach to stop him, and he kisses him gently.

"What was that for?" Steve mutters into the space between them after a moment or two, and Bucky pecks his lips again.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For wishing me a happy birthday."

He grins, not quite as wide as it was when they were kids, his eyes not as bright with the possibilities of the future, but it's a grin, and it's a step forward that Steve is proud he's been able to make. Bucky starts off toward the cemetery entrance again and yells, "Come on, we gotta get there before the hipsters do!"

"They live there, Buck, don't try to kid yourself." Steve yells back, as he follows. "And you listen to the Arctic Monkeys, shut up."

Bucky's laugh filters through the air, and Steve follows him, follows it, and is glad.


End file.
